Hegel's Logical Comprehension of the Modern State [Hardcover]

Hegel's Philosophy of Right is widely recognized as one of the most important texts in the history of philosophy. One major problem with most of the current literature is its failure to acknowledge the systematic construction of Hegel's philosophy. The Philosophy of Right is intended to be understood within the context of Hegel's philosophical system. We require a systematic reading that interprets Hegel's philosophy as he intended it to be understood. Matthew J. Smetona offers us such an account which advances our knowledge of Hegel's philosophy and its contemporary relevance. Hegel's Logical Comprehension of the Modern State is an important contribution to the systematic reading of Hegel's Philosophy of Right that should benefit students and scholars alike.This book argues that the criterion of rationality Hegel employs in his argument that the modern state as he conceptualizes it is rational is the holistic inferential system of concepts he refers to as the Concept and depicts in the Science of Logic. The book then attempts to explain Hegels political philosophy as it is articulated in the Philosophy of Right in terms of the logical and metaphysical requirements of the Science of Logic.This book argues that the criterion of rationality Hegel employs in his argument that the modern state as he conceptualizes it is rational is the holistic inferential system of concepts he refers to as the Concept and depicts in the Science of Logic. The book then attempts to explain Hegels political philosophy as it is articulated in the Philosophy of Right in terms of the logical and metaphysical requirements of the Science of Logic. This unified logical interpretation of Hegels philosophy is opposed not only to recent practical interpretations which dispense entirely with his Science of Logic, but also to recent transcendental interpretations which attribute to Hegel the position that the determining activity of thought is limited to the form of the object of its cognitiolãƒ